


The Endless Snow

by Emrys MK (mk_malfoy)



Series: Merlin Episodes: AUs, Missing Scenes, and Inspired By [42]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Merlin Waiting for Arthur Pendragon's Return (Merlin), POV Outsider, Poor Merlin (Merlin), Post-Episode: s05e13 The Diamond of the Day, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29590935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mk_malfoy/pseuds/Emrys%20MK
Summary: After Arthur's death, Merlin made it snow.It never stopped.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merlin Episodes: AUs, Missing Scenes, and Inspired By [42]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/640559
Comments: 15
Kudos: 39





	The Endless Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Some of us were chatting in one of the Merlin discords and someone said something about Merlin losing control of his magic. So of course it gave me all the feels and I decided I needed to write this immediately.
> 
>  **Disclaimer** : Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

The Lake of Avalon in 1530 is a shadow of the majestic waterway that greeted travellers in 530. Water flows within as ever, yet there is less of it and it is not nearly as pristine. The flora and fauna continue to benefit from its plentiful resources, yet there are fewer of them and they call the source of water home for briefer periods of time. Druids, Saxons, and various other groups revere the area as much as they ever have, but with each passing year, their numbers dwindle.

The only constant is the snow. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year it falls without fail, leaving behind soft, flowing beautiful drifts in its wake that go on and on, but they do not impede the life that goes on beyond the wood that surrounds the lake.

People come from far away to see this magnificent view. It is rumoured that, soon after his coronation, even King Henry VIII of England made a secret journey to see this magical spectacle.

The reason for the snow has been fodder for many a story told over a roaring fire on a cold, winter’s night. One legend that seems to have grown in popularity in recent times is that on a dreary day a thousand years in the past a king called Arthur Pendragon, ruler of Camelot, met his untimely end on the shores of this grand lake. In response, his ever-faithful servant, a man called Merlin, who possessed magic, was so distraught that he made it snow. 

It never stopped.

There is nothing or no one alive today to confirm or deny this story – it is likely merely a tall tale told to entertain – but if you ask the regulars who roam these woods to hunt and survive, especially on Christmas Eve, they will tell you without doubt that this tragic tale is true because an old man with long white hair and a never-ending, flowing beard arrives on this day and sits on the bank, looking out over the water, tears in his eyes. 

He stays just this one day and then leaves, not to be seen until the following year on this same day. A few have been brave enough to approach him – they say his face tells a million stories without him speaking a word – but if he ever did speak, none have shared what the man told them. Some say he is mute. 

It is said that one year the man could be heard wailing his grief for the whole of the day, but most of the stories are merely of the man sitting there, staring straight ahead, as if waiting. 

Waiting for his king.

No matter if this tale is true or not in the eyes of time that saw events a thousand years in the past, it is true in the hearts of generations of people who fervently hope that one Christmas Eve the king of Camelot will return to Merlin.


End file.
